Prime Minister's Office
English rendering of PM’s address at inauguration of Kanpur Metro Project
Bharat Mata Ki Jai! Bharat Mata Ki Jai! Popular Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath ji, my colleague in the Union Cabinet Hardeep Puri ji, Deputy Chief Minister of UP Shri Keshav Prasad Maurya ji, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti ji, Bhanupratap Verma ji, Ministers in UP Government Shri Satish Mahana ji, Neelima Katiyar ji, Ranvendra Pratap ji, Lakhan Singh ji and Ajit Pal ji, all the esteemed MPs and MLAs and people's representatives present here and my dear brothers and sisters! I salute this land of sages, the land of inspiration of freedom fighters and revolutionaries and to Kanpur which gives energy to the industrial potential of free India. It is Kanpur that has played an important role in forging visionary leadership like Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, Sundar Singh Bhandari and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. And today not only Kanpur but God Varuna also decided to take part in this happiness.
Friends,
The humor of the people of Kanpur, the Kanpuriya style and their prompt response is beyond comparison. What is written at Thaggu Ke Laddu ? There is no such relative ... . You keep on saying what you have been saying, but I would say that there is no one in Kanpur who has not received affection. Friends, when I used to visit you for organizational works, I used to hear a catchphrase a lot – ‘Jhade Raho kalattar-ganj’!!! Do you express it nowadays or the new generation has forgotten.
Friends,
Today is Tuesday and another golden chapter is being added in the development of UP today with the blessings of Lord Hanuman ji of Panki. Today Kanpur has got metro connectivity. Kanpur is now also connected to Bina Refinery. This will make petroleum products easily accessible in Kanpur as well as in many districts of UP. Congratulations to all of you and Uttar Pradesh for these two projects! I had a program at IIT Kanpur before I came here. I wanted to witness the spirit of the people of Kanpur, their enthusiasm while travelling on the metro rail for the first time. So I decided to travel by metro and it was a really memorable experience for me.
Friends,
The people who ran the governments in UP earlier never understood the importance of time. During the period of the 21st century when UP had to make rapid progress, the previous governments lost precious time and important opportunities. The development of UP was not among their priorities and their commitment was not for the people of UP. The double engine government in Uttar Pradesh today is engaged in compensating for the loss of time in the past. We are working at double the speed. Today, the country's largest international airport is being built in UP. Today, the longest expressway in the country is being built in UP. Today, the country's first regional rapid transit system is being built in UP. UP is also going to be the hub of the Dedicated Freight Corridor. UP, which was once notorious for its illegal arms gangs, is building a defense corridor for the country's security. Friends, this is the reason why the people of UP are saying that the difference is clearly visible! This difference is not only in the plans and projects; but also in the working style. The double engine government works day and night to complete the works launched by it. The construction of Kanpur Metro was started in our regime and our government is also launching it. The foundation stone of the Purvanchal Expressway was laid by our government and our government completed it. The foundation stone of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway was laid by our government and we also completed it and dedicated it to the public. I can count many such projects. Whether it is the East or West or this region, we are trying to complete every project in UP on time. This is necessary because when any project is completed on time, the country’s money is used properly and the people of the country also benefit. You tell me, the people of Kanpur had been complaining about traffic jams for years. You used to lose your precious time and money. Now, with the commencement of this nine km line of the first phase, a beginning has been made to address those complaints. It is very commendable that this section has been made operational within two years despite the difficult challenges of Corona.
Friends,
There was a perception in our country for decades after independence that anything new has to be done in only three or four big cities. Cities other than the major metro cities of the country were left on their own. Those running the governments earlier did not understand the importance of the potential of the people living in these cities and to provide facilities to them. Those who were in the governments earlier did not pay heed to the aspirations of the crores of people living in these cities. Those who are trying to create an atmosphere now had no intention of development. Now our government is also giving priority to the development of such important cities. Efforts are being made to ensure that there is better connectivity for these cities, there are good institutions of higher education, there is no problem of electricity and water and there is a modern sewage system. If I talk about Metro only, the first phase of Kanpur Metro has been inaugurated today. Work on Agra and Meerut Metro is in full swing. Metro service is also proposed in many other cities. Metro is being continuously expanded in Lucknow, Noida and Ghaziabad. The speed at which Metro work is happening in UP is unprecedented.
Friends,
Listen carefully to the statistics. The total length of the Metro in UP was 9 kilometers before 2014. Between 2014 and 2017, the length of the Metro increased to 18 kilometers. If we add Kanpur Metro, then the length of the Metro in UP is now more than 90 kilometers. You can see the difference between the working style of previous governments and the government of Yogi ji. Therefore, UP says that the difference is clearly visible.
Friends,
Prior to 2014, only five cities across the country had Metro facilities. That is, the Metro rail was available only in the so-called metro cities. Today Metros are running in five cities of UP alone. Today, work is underway on the Metro rail in 27 cities of the country. Today, poor and middle-class families living in these cities are also getting the facility of Metro rail which was available in select metro cities today. Efforts to raise the living standards of the urban poor have also boosted the confidence of the youth in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. It has gained a lot of momentum in UP after the formation of the double engine government.
Friends,
No country or state can ever move forward with unbalanced development. For decades, such was the situation in our country that one part was developed while the other was left unattended. It is equally important to address this inequality at the state and society level. Therefore, our government is working on the mantra of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’. Every section of the society, Dalits, exploited, victims, deprived, backward and tribal communities, is getting equal benefits from the schemes of our government. Our government is paying special attention to people who were never taken care of before.
Friends,
Even the poor living in the cities have been neglected by the previous governments. Today, for the first time, our government is working for the urban poor with complete sincerity. Let me give you an example. During the 10 years before 2017, only 2.5 lakh pucca houses were built for the urban poor in UP. In the last four-and-a-half years, the UP government has sanctioned more than 17 lakh houses for the urban poor. Of these, 9.5 lakh houses have already been built and work is in full swing for the rest.
Brothers and sisters,
Many people from our villages come to work in the cities. Many of these people make a living by selling goods on carts. Today, for the first time, our government has taken note of these people. Our government is working in this direction so that they can get easy loans from banks and they also do digital transactions. Many street vendors have benefited from the PM SVANidhi Yojana in Kanpur. More than Rs 700 crore has been given to more than seven lakh such people under the SVANidhi Yojana in UP.
Brothers and sisters,
It is the responsibility of all of us to understand the needs of the people and to serve them. Keeping in mind the needs of the people of UP, the double engine government is working hard. In the past, piped water was not available to millions of households in UP. Today we are engaged in providing clean water to every household in UP under the Har Ghar Jal mission. In this difficult time of Corona, our government has provided free rations to more than 150 million people of UP.
Friends,
Those, who were in the governments earlier, used to run the government with the mentality that the lottery has been drawn for five years and rob UP as much as possible. You have seen for yourself how thousands of crores were scammed in the projects started by the previous governments in UP. These people never worked on big goals for UP, never worked with a big vision. They never considered themselves accountable to the people of UP. Today, the double engine government is working with utmost sincerity and full accountability to take UP to a new height of development. The double engine government knows how to set big goals and achieve them. Who would have thought that there could be an improvement in everything from power generation to transmission in UP? People were not bothered if there were power cuts. They knew that there would be power cuts for hours. They took consolation to the fact that there was no electricity to the house next door.
Friends,
Who would have thought that a huge horrible canal-like Sisamau falling into Gangaji could be closed one day? But this was also done by our double engine government. Kanpur will get a lot of relief after the capacity of BPCL's Panki Kanpur Depot is increased more than four times.
Brothers and sisters,
The work that has been done on connectivity and communication, as well as gas and petroleum pipeline infrastructure, has also benefited UP a lot. Till 2014, there were only 140 million LPG gas connections in the country, today there are more than 300 million gas connections. In UP alone, about 16 million poor families have been given new LPG gas connections. Cheaper piped gas connections have also increased nine times in seven years. It has been possible because of the unprecedented expansion of the petroleum network in recent years. Bina-Panki Multi-Product Pipeline will further strengthen this network. Now many districts of UP, including Kanpur, will not have to depend on trucks for products like petrol and diesel from the Bina refinery. With this, the engine of development in UP will continue to get energy non-stop.
Friends,
The rule of law is most important for industries to flourish and for attracting investment in any state. The previous governments in UP spread the tree of mafia so much that all the industries and businesses collapsed under its shadow. Now the government of Yogi ji has brought back the rule of law and order. As a result, the investment in UP is also increasing and the criminals are going to jail by canceling their bail themselves. The double engine government is now once again promoting industrial culture in UP. Mega Leather Cluster has been approved in Kanpur. A technology center has also been set up in Fazalganj to develop the skills of the youth here. Whether it is the Defence Corridor or One District, One Product scheme, our enterprising colleagues in Kanpur will benefit a lot.
Friends,
The Central Government is also working continuously to improve the Ease of Doing Business. Steps have been taken in this direction to reduce corporate tax to 15 percent for new entities, to reduce GST rates, to end the web of many laws and to have a faceless assessment. The government has also started giving production linked incentives to promote new sectors. The government has also decriminalized a number of provisions of the Company Law, which added to the problems of our business associates.
Brothers and sisters,
The parties, whose economic policy is based on corruption, whose policy is to respect the mafias, cannot develop Uttar Pradesh. Therefore, they have a problem with every step that strengthens and empowers society. Therefore, they also oppose the steps taken for women’s empowerment. They protest whether it is a strict law against Triple Talaq, or the issue of equalizing the age of marriage for boys and girls. But looking at the work of Yogi ji's government, these people claim that all these were done by them. I was wondering if these people will claim that the boxes full of currency notes that have been found recently were their achievement.
Friends,
The people of Kanpur are well-versed in trade and business. The ‘itar’  of corruption, which they had sprinkled all over UP before 2017, has surfaced for everyone to see. They have locks on their mouths now and are not coming forward to claim credit for it. The entire country saw the mountains of currency notes, it is their achievement. This is their reality. The people of UP are watching and understanding everything. Therefore, they are with those who are developing UP and who are taking UP to new heights. Brothers and sisters, best wishes to all of you for this important occasion today and for such a great gift and for this atmosphere which is filled with happiness!! Thank you very much. Bharat Mata Ki Jai! Bharat Mata Ki Jai! Bharat Mata Ki Jai! Thank you very much.
DISCLAIMER: This is the approximate translation of PM’s speech. Original speech was delivered in Hindi.